Behind Ocean Eyes
by SimplySutton
Summary: What if Jaune was all his parents ever wanted him to be? What if he was perfect on the outside but didn't want to be? How would fate balance things out? Fine on the outside, broken on the in after a childhood trauma, Jaune's horizon is looking grim. But can getting into Beacon change that? Rated T for darker themes early on, but not enough to warrant an M.
1. Chapter 1

**'Thought'  
**"Normal Speech"

* * *

Jaune sat on the window ledge of his bedroom; he would do this many evenings, leaving his bed freshly made in the corner of his room as usual and falling asleep instead, bathing in the moon and starlight. Ever since he'd been little, he had remembered feeling a certain connection with celestial bodies, especially those at night. He remembered how proud his father had been when they had found out that his aura was directly linked to both moon and starlight.

Remember.

All the pain and grief him and his family had felt when his younger sister, Giallo, had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Given, the doctors had estimated that she had ten or eleven years left to live, fifteen at an absolute maximum, but terminal was terminal: she was going to di-…move on, Jaune quickly corrected himself. That was four years ago.

Jaune had been seven years old at the time, yet fully understood the implications of his sister's condition. He wouldn't go on to have a perfect childhood by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, both his mother and father loved him greatly, just as he loved his sister, but he was often ignored by his mother unless she was teaching him or out with him and Giallo.

He didn't think any less of her for being like this; since Jaune was an infant he had been regarded as a prodigy, both physically and mentally. He'd passed combat and academic classes with flying colours, therefore understood that his mother had to care for his sister, leaving less time for him.

If any positives came out of his predicament, it was that he and his father, Richard, had bonded immensely, and if he had discovered anything, it was that they shared many of the same traits. This had caused his father to become very proud of his son and the fact that he was carrying the 'Arc Legacy' as his father had dubbed it, forwards.

The fact that Jaune was his father's favourite had led to his parents falling out, his mother accusing his father of not caring for Giallo enough, and by extension, loving Giallo enough. Of course, his father had dismissed these claims, and Jaune knew his father was telling the truth. After spending so much time with his father, he knew that Richard loved him and his sister equally, but had trouble excepting the harsh reality of her condition. Furthermore, due to having such legendary heritage, Jaune's father couldn't interpret why an Arc would have such an ailment. But nonetheless, this served to destabilize the Arc household making it that much harder for Jaune to cope.

Lost in thought and blanketed in moonlight with his eyelids heavy, Jaune found himself drifting off to sleep, unaware of what was to happen over the next few days.

* * *

Glancing over to his digital, dust-powered clock, Jaune rose from his bed. **'Wait, I'm in my bed..?'** Jaune wondered to himself. Pulling the covers off, he assumed that one of his parents had moved him during the night. **'Probably Dad,'** Jaune concluded, as he dressed himself in his school uniform and began to make his way downstairs.

He was greeted by the sight of his father at the end of the table hidden behind the local newspaper, his mum sat on the left besides his sister, both eating and his own place on the right, next to his father with his breakfast on the table. He sat down, his father sending a nod in his direction and an excited "Jaune! You're awake" from his little sister. His mother simply kept eating her breakfast.

Jaune sat down and began to eat the cereal that had been placed in front of him.

"Jaune," his mother began. "We're your sister and I are going out this evening, I was wondering if you'd like to come?"

"Sure mum, where are we going?"

"Oh, don't worry, you don't need to know, think of it as a surprise for you and your sister, you'll need to dress smartly though, wouldn't want to look a mess where we're going, especially if there are some nice young ladi-"

"-MUM!"

"I'm sorry dear," Jaune knew she didn't mean it. "Have a nice day anyway,"

Jaune gathered his belongings and placed them in his bag, made sure Giallo was ready and departed off to school.

* * *

After kissing Giallo goodbye and hoping that se had a nice day, Jaune found himself at school. Opening his locker, he pulled out his books and glanced at his timetable. _Dust and its uses_,_ Grimm Studies_,_ Combat Training _and_ Basic Academics_. **'Not a bad day,' **he summarised.

Jaune looked to his left to find his long-term best friend, Xavier, closing his locker and turning to face him. Xavier was a fox faunus and had a lot in common with Jaune because of this. He hadn't told him at first, but on his father's side of Jaune's family, many generations ago they had once been wolf faunus, but years of breeding with pure humans erased the physical features that a faunus would usually have, but the increased stamina, speed, tracking skills and most importantly fighting skills had remained in the Arc bloodline. Once they had discovered common ground, Xavier and Jaune had become like brothers.

Xavier knew very well of Giallo's condition and would often get her presents. It was safe to say that Xavier and his family were closest to the Arcs, not just because the boys were friends, but because their fathers had fought alongside eachother defending the village against the regular attacks that Grimm made at the walls.

"Morning," Jaune greeted.

"Morning to you to Jaune," Xavier replied.

"I can't wait for Combat later, I've been testing some new sword techniques and need to put them into a real situation,"

"Well, I heard that we're fighting in pairs today...and y'know, I was thinking that we should pair up for later...?"

Jaune laughed.

"Xav, you don't even need to ask, we've working together on just about everything since we've been five,"

Xavier nervously laughed back.

"Just checking,"

And with that they both made their way to their first lesson.

* * *

At last it was their penultimate lesson of the day: Combat. It was by far and away Jaune's personal favourite lesson. Yes, he was good, okay, understatement, he was amazing at just about every subject, but combat just stood out to him.

He saw beyond just the element of strength and spirit; he saw the tactical side of battle, analysing each of his opponents moves with ease and capitalizing on their every weakness.

He was in the middle of the school arena, stood beside Xavier, who had just adopted his battle stance. The whistle blew and Jaune's eyes flicked up to meet those of his attackers. Unsheathing _Crocea Mors_ he adopted a defensive stance, deciding due to his opponent's reliance on speed, that he would simply counter attack and stay relatively still, offsetting his adversary's tactic.

His oppontent saw his time to strike, rushing forwards, but was greeted by thin air and a thump on the head with Crocea Mors' hilt.

"One down, one to go," muttered Jaune to nobody in particular.

However, as Jaune turned around, he noticed Xavier just finishing his opponent off. They'd won...or so they thought.

"You will both face each other in the final now, good luck to the both of you!" their combat tutor announced.

Xavier knew that he wasn't going to win this one. He had seen Jaune training at home with his father, evening managing to beat him on several occasions.

But Xavier was never one to pass up a challenge.

The whistle blew again and the two boys rushed each other, Jaune going on the offensive this time.

Their swords met, and sparks were shed as the intensity of the fight increased.

It was clear from the beginning that Jaune had the upper-hand as Xavier, despite only taking minor damage, found himself driven into a corner.

Jaune went to slash left with Crocea Mors but changed direction at the last-minute throwing Xavier off-balance.

Jaune's sword met the flesh of Xavier's shoulder, but not biting in deeply, however, Jaune had achieved the desired effect, tripping Xavier and levelling his sword at his throat.

"I win," stated Jaune nonchalantly.

It came as no surprise that Jaune had won to the teachers. His record was perfect, with both his grades and combat, but that was to be expected considering he was one of the oldest people in the school. Now he was in his final year of primary school he was ready to move up to something…more.

His parents had considered sending him to one of the main combat schools around, _Signal_ and _Sanctum_ standing out particularly, but they had decided that it was in Jaune's best interests to have his father and some other experienced Hunters and Huntresses teach him, along with his mother and father who were supposed to be among the greatest of their generation. They had even looked into getting his uncle; a certain Professor Ozpin to help mentor him along with Richard.

Jaune was interrupted from his train of thought by the school bell ringing, signalling the end of the day. He jumped up, and along with the rest of his class, made his way to his locker, collecting his weapons that he'd left there earlier and sheathing them, oblivious the longing stares he was receiving from the female members of the school.

* * *

Jaune was in his room preparing for an evening out his mother had planned for him and his sister for weeks. They were to go out to Vale, the capital city, to go shopping and have a meal at a smart restaurant, hence the reason Jaune was currently putting his smart clothes on, consisting of some sandy coloured chinos, a dark blue sweater and a navy blue coat.

Examining himself in the mirror, Jaune pulled lightly on his blonde hair. He'd gotten his hair and eyes of his father and the rest of his facial features from his mother. Fortunately or what would soon be unfortunately, his mother his been incredibly beautiful, leading to Jaune being the object of affection for many girls at school. Of course, he viewed many of them as his sisters, due to the fact he lived in such a small village where just about everyone knew each other on a relatively personal basis. Still, he wasn't sure if he loved or loathed the attention. Besides, Jaune himself was only eleven and had decided that he wasn't interested in that sort of thing yet.

Being brought back to reality again through his mother calling his name from downstairs, Jaune sprayed on some deodorant wished his father goodbye, as Richard had to attend the village guard in the evenings and made his way out to the car.

* * *

Later that evening, they had been around many of the shops and had just settled down to eat dinner. Jaune looked around at the other diners, noticing a few other youths: a beautiful ice white-haired girl with pale blue eyes, who looked to be of nobility and a pair of girls sat with who Jaune guessed were their parents. One had long blonde hair, lilac eyes, who was no doubt gorgeous and was notably older than the other, whilst the other girl was definitely younger than him and had black hair and curiously coloured, silver eyes.

His family (minus Richard) were seated roughly in-between the two tables, with Jaune sat next his sister and Giallo sat opposite their mum.

Jaune made polite conversation with his mother and talked all about school to Giallo, who was halfway through school and while not showing the same prowess as Jaune, showed that she was more than a capable student. The doctors had attributed Giallo's lack of talent compared to Jaune as a side effect of her condition which fed on her aura reserves slowly and generally stripping away any genetic advantages her heritage had given her.

When their meals arrived, they all gladly tucked in, but not before Jaune caught the white haired girl, looking at him with...jealousy? Jaune guessed and something he couldn't quite pick up. Before he could make up his mind, she looked away blushing at being caught staring.

Looking to the other side Jaune saw the blonde haired girl look at him, not dissimilarly to the girl on the other side. However, she didn't look jealous but was still regarding him with something Jaune didn't recognise in her eyes. Again, she looked away blushing but not before shyly smiled towards Jaune.

It didn't really matter to Jaune though, he wouldn't forget the faces he saw this evening for years to come he assured himself. Maybe girls weren't as bad as he thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, a certain Weiss Schnee had staring at a young man, with mesmerizing ocean blue eyes and blonde hair. Given, he was gorgeous in her opinion, but she had been listening in to his conversation and how sweet he was being to his sister, however, she could feel a slight change in his tone when addressing his mother, caring was all too clear but his voice sounded colder, something she could relate to.

Weiss had loved her mother, but always held her at arm's length so to speak, as she would often stress to Weiss that she needed to uphold her duty as a Schnee and act perfectly in every situation. Of course, Weiss had always been opposed to acting how her parents had wanted her to, but she realised that there was nothing that she could do about it.

One small victory for her was her sideways ponytail that her beautiful hair was styled into, breaking the pattern of perfect symmetry present in all the clothes she wore.

But back on topic, Weiss was sure she wouldn't ever forget his face and hoped more than anything that she could get a chance to know him. Or to do something more than just know him. As slim as the possibility seemed at the moment, with her parent practically preventing her from talking to anyone who wasn't family or one of her tutors. Maybe, just maybe, he had aspirations of going to Beacon when he was in his later teens.

* * *

On the other side of the room a certain lilac eyed girl was having thoughts along a similar line. First of all, she had unknowingly agreed with Weiss that he was gorgeous and was also eavesdropping on his conversation. However, she was listening for a different reason, she could understand the direction he was coming from towards his sister, as she had done the same thing many times with her sister, Ruby while they were out.

There was one fundamental difference though, Yang had noticed that the boy in question was being nice to his sibling to the point it as unnatural. She would be nice to her sister within reason, but would say and/or do certain things that were meant to antagonise her on purpose.

But this boy…

He gave the word 'caring' a whole new meaning.

Yang being Yang, her mind quickly jumped to the prospect of him being so caring to her and all the imaginary dates they would go on. Putting it simply, he made the boys at her school look like idiots.

She decided right there that if she wasn't going to have him, or at least someone just like him, she didn't want to have anybody.

"Uuuuh…Yang..? Hello-o"

Ruby had caught her off guard while she was off day-dreaming. And they were good day-dreams.

Yang was not a happy bunny. Never interrupt Yang Xiao Long when she's day-dreaming.

* * *

Roughly an hour had passed and Jaune's mother was just asking paying the bill, the families around them were beginning to finish up too. Jaune muttered his thanks to the waiter that had served him and hand-in-hand with his sister, began walking towards the door.

On their way back to the car, they passed an alleyway, thinking nothing of it, they took a glance and turned around to continue walking.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?"

Dead-ahead of them stood three men wearing black shirts with red trimming.

Before they had time to answer the man in the middle who was apparently the leading pointed a gun at them. Forcing them to take a step back.

"Get in the alleyway, you heard me!" he shouted again.

They turned to meet with three other men, dressed in similar outfits.

"Don't even think about running!" one of them shouted.

Jaune was simply surprised nobody had heard what was happening, then again, nobody was around really in the dead of night in the richer part of Vale.

Before Jaune knew it, he, his mum and his beloved little sister were all in the middle of the alley, their weapons at home, completely surrounded by the men.

"Take the children over there, I'm dealing with the wonderful women," the leader commanded, a malicious smile gracing his ugly features.

The grunts of the group began to drag Jaune and Giallo away, until Jaune bit into his captor's arm leading to a scream of pain. The leader, noticing this turned and shot Jaune a despicable smile.

"You know what, pretty boy here's going to watch while we have fun with his mother!" he shouted, laughing madly.

Jaunes eyes widened in terror, but glinted in defiance and two new men held him to the ground while the leader began to tear at his mother's clothes and undo his own.

Jaune was forced to watch for ten minutes as the men violated his mother, her pleas for help falling on deaf ears and Jaune's struggling going in vain.

However, when one of the men suggested they go after his sister too something snapped in the young man.

Jaune closed his eyes, seeing the moon in one piece, however, with a mighty 'BANG!' it shattered into pieces mirroring how it look that very evening. He opened his eyes to find himself floating a few feet up in the air with his legs curled up to his face. He took a peek at the real moon to see it glowing with power. Moving into an upright position violently, Jaune released an explosion of light that sent most of the group members flying, and coming to an abrupt stop when they hit solid objects.

Jaune looked down to see himself glowing with an ethereal light, for the first time in his life, Jaune felt what it was like to have his aura at his disposal. He usually had little or no control of it usually but something that night had changed him. On his back were two pure white angelic wings, glowing the same colour as his aura.

Also, something in the air felt different, he felt faster, generally, he felt like he could climb the highest mountain in Remnant and not even break a sweat. Jaune felt powerful. No, Jaune felt unstoppable.

The leader, let go of his mother in fear and pulled out his gun, firing multiple rounds at Jaune, all of which slowed in mid-air and fell to the ground with a metallic 'klinks'.

Jaune slowly walked towards the leader, eyes not blue, but glowing white with hatred and pain at what he had just witnessed. Despite the difference in size, Jaune put his hand around the man's neck and as if gravity was weakened around him, lifted him up and began choking the man.

A minute on and the man was dead.

Jaune picked up the body and with a roar and another explosion of pure white aura, sent the man flying towards one of the far walls where he landed with a dull crack as his now broken body fell towards the ground.

The use of so much aura in one go had severely weakened him though thanks to his young age and he felt himself getting weaker with each second that passed. Jaune took one last look at all that surrounded him, noticing the two families that he had seen in the restaurant earlier, saw that his mum and sister were safe, exhaled and fell to the ground as darkness quickly overcame him.

* * *

**Hey, this is my first story, so let me know what you think, feedback would be great! It will pick up in the next few chapters, as this was quite a slow start.**

**Just to clarify, Jaune is eleven during this chapter, as are Weiss and Yang. His sister is eight and Ruby is nine.**

**-SimplySutton signing off.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Dream  
'Thought'  
**"Speech"

Because I forgot in the first chapter, I would like to say I don't own RWBY :( Monty Oum and Roosterteeth have that luxury.

* * *

"**Please Jaune, help me!"**

"**Jaune do something!"**

"**P-please! Stop!"**

**The screams of his mother reverberated around Jaune's unconscious mind.**

"**Mum!" the words barely left his mouth before he received a boot to the ribs from one of the captors.**

**He received one more hit in the chest, one more scream from his mother before his vision went white.**

**Hurt. That's all he felt. And he wanted them to feel the same way.**

**He'd lost it, never had Jaune even contemplating killing someone, excluding those who made it their goal to bully Giallo. But this time…well, half the city had felt the hate and pain emitted by the young man.**

**Jaune found himself dark room. No, just darkness.**

**Flick.**

**One came a spotlight, the harshness of the light blinding Jaune until he could make out his mother crying on the floor.**

"**Jaune, you could have stopped them…" she spoke, in barely more than a whisper.**

"**Mum, I tried, you knew I was trying my best!"**

"**Sometimes, even your best isn't good enough,"**

**The line had hit home, reminding Jaune of all the taunts he had received in his early years at primary school. Never good enough. **

**Jaune had soon proved them wrong through his performances, his father had assured him that they were just jealous. Usually he'd just shrug the insults off when they came…**

…**but from his own mother?**

**The voice of reason, the voice of caring. His second role model. Mocking him.**

**Jaune let out a sob, biting his tongue to prevent it from becoming audible.**

**Everybody around the bed had heard him.(1)**

**A tear slid down his high cheekbones.**

**Worthless. Stupid. Useless.**

**The words ricocheted around inside his head. Deafening him.**

**Drowning him.**

* * *

"…considering the amount of aura that was registered as being expended in that alley two days ago, he's making quite a sound recovery,"

Barely awoken, his eyes still shut and showing no indication of having regained consciousness yet, Jaune could make out the refined tone of Professor Ozpin's voice. Also, the well-educated choice of words made it difficult not to link the voice with such a person.

"…furthermore, there is a curious increase in power after the event. It is reported that in some rare cases, an adolescent's aura has been fully unlocked in a time of physical or mental trauma, it is however, known to influence that person themselves, causing them to become more emotionally unstable for an undisclosed amount of time," Ozpin finished his analysis of Jaune's current state, leaving those gathered around him shocked and saddened at the news.

Around the bed stood and sat not only the Arc family, but the Yang and Ruby's, the Schnee's and last of all an assortment of Beacon staff, the latter of which had been called to see if they could discover anything from the young man.

During Jaune's massive release of aura a few evening earlier, it had been the two families who had got to the location first and alerted the authorities and moving Jaune to a secure environment.

And although Mr Schnee has little interest in seeing the boy recover he had no choice, thanks his wife and daughter, Weiss, who had both shown concern over the boy.

'**Perhaps it was a women thing..?' **Mr Schnee had guessed.

Deciding to finally show that he was awake, Jaune stretched has back out, letting an involuntary moan out and opening his eyes, to be greeted by the scene in front of him.

Everybody was looking at him with happy and relieved expressions on their faces, even the two families he didn't know. Jaune wasn't particularly surprised to see some of the staff from Beacon near him, as he was sure that with the amount of aura he had released, it was in their interests to investigate.

Ozpin was the first to address the young man, much to his family's displeasure. "Good morning young man, I trust that you are feeling rested?"

Jaune gave a slight nod.

"Good, the hospital staff here have said that you shouldn't need to remain here much longer, thanks to your rather speedy recovery. That, however, doesn't mean that during some of our training sessions, that I will not experiment with you aura capabilities as it is unheard of for such a young person having such high reserves and such a high intensity of aura,"

Jaune had no problems with this; in his mind, anything he could do to assist people was a positive.

Ozpin then took a step back. "Well, it has been pleasant talking to you today, but I'm rather afraid I have to be going; the position of headmaster doesn't afford much spare time unfortunately. Good day," and with that he strode over to the door and left, softly shutting it on his way out.

Jaune didn't question the man's logic for two seconds. Ozpin, a great man who despite not asking for it, commanded people's respect incredibly quickly.

Looking to his left, Jaune gave his own family a smile, Giallo taking this as a cue to bound towards him and try her best to crush him in a hug. Even with her surprisingly tight grip, Jaune loved every second of it. The fact that his mother wasn't present didn't go unnoticed though.

After being released from his sister's embrace, he turned to face the two families who had come to him moments before he had passed out…or had they been there for some time? Jaune couldn't remember, but still but expressed his thanks for coming to them the other night, flashing them a mega-watt smile in the process.

His eyes held genuine gratitude for finding him; preventing his sister from harm, briefly glowing a bright, almost neon blue before returning to their usual colour.

Unknown to Jaune, it was that very smile and the words left unsaid from his eyes which captured the hearts and imaginations of two girls, an heiress and a blond beauty to be specific.

* * *

Upon being released from hospital and talking to some of the hospital staff, Jaune's good mood was soon dulled.

"You may go and see her now," a nurse said, with a hint of sorrow for what the boy was going to here.

Mrs Arc lay weakly in her bed, dim green eyes peering at Jaune. She looked so…weak.

"Jaune, your mother suffered serious emotional trauma first-hand," a doctor standing by the bedside began. "Where you are young and will naturally take witnessing something as vile as this very badly. Yes, your mother will be experiencing similar issues over the next several years, similarly to you; nightmares and sudden spikes of fear in certain situations to be specific, the problems she faces will be ten times worse than yours. That isn't to say you've got off lightly,"

Jaune's day, life even, had taken a turn for the worst.

The doctor continued. "I know this be difficult for you, as your mother will not be the same person you've known for years to come. Again, you got off lightly, but look at it as a sign of strength young man,"

Jaune's eyes lost the glow they'd exhibited earlier, adopting a similar dull and lifeless look, no dissimilar to his mother's.

"I'll give you some time alone," and with that, the doctor made his way out of the room.

No words were said; the silence between them said all that needed to be said. All the pain, all the sorrow all the…hurt, were conveyed perfectly.

"I'm sorry I could help you sooner," Jaune murmured, before leaving the room, a _real _silent tear sliding down his cheek, overwhelmed by the sense of guilt.

One thought stayed in his mind the entire time: **'I will be there next time, nothing is ever going to happen to you again,'**

* * *

**(1) Everybody in real life heard him.**

**Okay guys (and girls?), I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry that it was a little short, but I got to where I wanted to be fairly quickly.**

**-SimplySutton signing off**


	3. Chapter 3

"Speech"  
**'Thought'  
Flashback  
Just a reminder, I don't own RWBY, it's for the best, as I'd probably ruin it :L**

* * *

Roughly six and a half long year had passed since Jaune had left the hospital ward with his family.

Six years of hurt. Six years of isolation. Six years of progress.

He'd long since given up on trying to share his problems, finding it easier to channel all the sorrow and rage into constructive energy; he'd spend his days with his tutor, even weekends and the evening ploughing through the Grimm population that had resided outside his village.

Key word being had.

Almost single-handedly, Jaune had more or less exterminated the Grimm population in the area, receiving praise from those who lived in the village but from his mentors and most importantly to Jaune: his father.

You could say that he had become perhaps obsessed with improving; increasing his natural ability as a hunter and his thirst for knowledge.

People had assumed it was because of his heritage. Maybe something his father had said to him?

Almost.

The words 'not good enough' lurked at the back of his mind, even when he had decimated another pocket of Grimm, even when he had received distinctions on his work from his tutors…even when he was excepted into Beacon.

Jaune always had to do better.

Even if it meant pushing people away.

He didn't want to get to know someone, just for them to be ripped away like his mother. The doctor had been right that she wouldn't be the same person as before, with her becoming a shell of her previous self, leaving Jaune to care Giallo all by himself.

* * *

A three foot blade swung through the air leaving a trail of white aura and a 'swoosh' sound before embedding itself into yet another training dummy, leaving a massive cut diagonally downwards from the bottom of the neck towards the centre of its torso.

Swoosh. Crocea Mors sliced clean through the wooden neck of the dummy.

Spinning around, Jaune launched a kick straight at the mid-section of the next 'opponent' shattering the wood around the area of impact. Crack.

Swivelling to his right and sheathing his sword, Jaune faced the final dummy. If it had been a person, it would surely have scattered by now, but where was the fun in that? Raising his arm Jaune closed his eyes, feeling for the pull being exerted on the dummy.

Closing his hand into a fist, he intensified the pull, ripping the dummy to the ground earning a satisfying 'Crunch' as the wood splintered due to the pressure.

Looking around at the destruction he'd caused, Jaune heard a certain Professor Ozpin clapping one hand against his ever-present mug of coffee.

"I must say, I have absolutely no regrets excepting you into my academy, Mr Arc,"

"With all due respect, I was ready two years ago, sir,"

"Were you now? Now tell me, do I accept emotionally unstable, revenge driven teenagers into my school? Those, who in an effort to get their vengeance, would likely put the wellbeing of their team aside and focus purely on bettering themselves? Those, who in times of great stress would realise dangerous amounts of aura and lose control of their rare and otherwise dangerous semblance?"

'**Say something intelligent Jaune, something intelligent…'**

"Umm..?"

'**Damnit!'**

"Exactly, Mr Arc, and that is why, while you would be fine as an individual, I chose not to offer you a place last year or the year before. Now, you have matured, are more experienced and while still having a one-track mind, are capable of leading or being part of a team, as is compulsory,"

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean for it to come out that way," Jaune replied, realising that he was in the wrong.

"I know you didn't, but know that I'm headmaster for a reason, if I had seen fit for you to come to Beacon in the past, I would have accepted you with open arms,"

"Thank you sir," Jaune muttered after receiving a verbal beat down from his long term mentor and soon to be headmaster.

And with that, Ozpin made his way to the entrance of the courtyard Jaune had been practising in and stepped through the gate, throwing some motion-sickness tablets in Jaune's direction.

On closer inspection, the top left corner of the box read: _You'll be needing these for the flight. -Ozpin._

"Well, shit," Jaune concluded.

* * *

Meanwhile, an heiress of the Schnee family, dressed in her night-wear, was packing her fourth suitcase after receiving the news she'd been accepted into Beacon, the most prestigious academy in Vytal.

Of course, she wasn't packing it all by herself, no, a total of _seven_ maids were helping her while she barked orders, standing on her four-post bed.

All she had to do was pack her personal luggage, which included Myrtenaster, several changes of the exact same outfit and her toiletries. Noticing all the suitcases were full, she demanded that they be transported on a huge, white trolley, which bared the Schnee crest.

"Perfect," Weiss commented, the maids letting out a collective sigh of relief. "All I need now is my personal supply of dust!"

"As you wish," replied one of the maids as she began to make her way out of the room, followed by the others.

"Oh! And take the cart with you, I need to get my rest!" Weiss cut in once again, before making her way back over to her bed and falling asleep, picturing two blue eyes looking into hers.

* * *

Jaune however, had just began his nightly routine.

He would shower, sling on a T-shirt and some shorts, make his way to Giallo's room and read her a story.

Yes, she was fourteen now and had perhaps outgrown bedtime stories, but that didn't mean she wouldn't ask Jaune to read to her every night to help her sleep.

One of the side effects of steadily having her aura whittled away by her condition, meant that her body would charge her aura up for an unknown reason, heightening her senses and making it incredibly difficult for her to sleep. Especially if Jaune or her mother had nightmares.

Whenever Jaune read her stories, she would relax and her aura would stay dormant, so that she could get a good night's sleep, oblivious to the goings on outside her room.

"Okay Gi, here we go," Jaune said softly as he pulled a book from the case and sat down beside Giallo's bed. "Once, there was a…" he began.

The bedtime routine for another set of siblings couldn't have been more different.

* * *

"RUBY! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING WITH MY HAIRDRYER?!" Yang shouted, eyes changing from their usual shade of lilac to a fiery shade of red.

"Y-Yang…I was just…uh..? Polishing it! Yes, urm…I know how much you love your 'baby' so I was giving it a good clean, see?" Ruby replied, grabbing the edge of the tank-top she slept in, breathing on it and wiping the hairdryer with it leaving a line of condensation on the side.

"Ruby…" Yang began, enraged, but trying to stay calm. "Did…you just…make a…MARK ON MY PRECIOUS!?" Yang finished, completely losing her cool and rushing towards a terrified looking Ruby Rose.

"Uhh…RUN!" Ruby burst out dropping the hairdryer on a nearby seat and zooming towards her bedroom.

"Thanks for your cooperation sis!" Yang exclaimed, picking up the hairdryer and making her way back to her room to tend to her hair. "Don't think I'm letting you off that easily though!" finished Yang, earning a quiet whimper from Ruby.

"Now, finally I can catch up on my beauty-sleep," Yang muttered to nobody in particular after having dried her hair and tucking herself into her bed. "…and maybe continue my day-dreams," she concluded, before rolling onto her side and into a deep sleep.

* * *

It was the morning of the new term and Jaune had packed his bags the night before.

'**Nightmares preventing you from sleeping can actually be useful, huh?' **he asked himself, as he began the process of putting on his armour, consisting of a chest plate, some large shoulder pads, some gauntlets and some greaves, all of which were white in colour.

He'd made them himself just the previous year, when his parents decided he needed some proper armour and hired a blacksmithing tutor for him.

It was the very same tutor who had suggested that Jaune should modify his grandfather's sword in some way to provide a ranged weapon, which Jaune politely declined. He did however, oversee Jaune's creation of an entirely new weapon: an automatic crossbow, which fired dust enhanced bolts with great accuracy to deadly effect.

Retrieving the said crossbow from his wall and strapping it to his back, he made his way down the stairs, grabbing some warm Croissants from the top of the oven and making his way towards the door, hugging his parents goodbye and kissing Giallo on the cheek.

Once he was outside, Jaune made his way down the street towards the dust-train station and getting some proud looks from the locals.

By the time he was on the platform a crowd had formed, mainly consisting of previous classmates who hadn't made it through to Beacon and children from the primary school, who still had a few days before they returned to education.

Finally, with a cheer and one last glance at his village for what would be a long time, Jaune stepped onto the train, finding a secluded place to sit while he made was way to Vale.

* * *

"YANG! HEY! YAANNNG!" Ruby called from outside her room.

"fghrjpwsdcb…" Yang replied, eyes adjusting to the bright light of day.

"YANG GET UPPP!" Ruby called again, pushing through the door and jumping onto the edge of Yang's bed.

"I said I was coming, Rub-" she muttered.

"-Nope! You just made a noise like a dying walrus!" interrupted Ruby, who was fully dressed and bouncing lightly on the end of the bed.

"Look, the faster you leave me alone, the faster I wake up, okay?" offered Yang, though it was more of an order to leave.

"Okay!" Ruby exclaimed, slamming the door on her way out.

'**Stupid little sister,' **Yang thought as she stretched, her back clicking satisfyingly. **'And my dream was just getting good too…'**

Little did she know, the person in her dream would be met in reality soon enough.

The same was true for a certain heiress.

* * *

"Weiss, sweetie, it's time to get up! Today is a big day!" the sound of Mrs Schnee's shrill voice rung through the corridors of the Schnee household.

"Mother, I'm not five anymore, I know how to wake up on time," came the response of a disgruntled Weiss Schnee. "And who calls anyone 'sweetie' anymore? Seriously,"

"Don't talk to me in that tone of voice young lady, I'm your mother and I'm going to say anything I like,"

"Ergh…"

"Is that appropriate language for an heiress, Weiss?"

"No mother," Weiss answered dully. The last thing she wanted to do this morning was argue. She'd woken herself up from a great dream to get ready for the day leaving her in a bad mood and now she was being babied by her mother.

"Well since you're so ready, we best be off then,"

Grumble.

Weiss hadn't eaten yet, but could do nothing to postpone setting off now.

Walking down several flights of stairs and out of the door, Weiss decided that the first thing she would do on the airship, was eat.

* * *

That very same thing was the last thing Jaune wanted to do. He'd always suffered motion sickness. Yes he was fine on dust-bikes. Fine in the car too. But he'd always hated airships.

He wasn't opposed to the idea of flying; he'd used his semblance to launch himself great distances before now, but being trapped in a rattling, oversized box didn't really appeal to Jaune.

In short, he would rather fight his way through the Emerald Forest rather than get on such a thing.

'**They say courage only shows when you are afraid,' **

The line shot to the front of Jaune's mind. His rather had said that to him many moons ago, when he was squaring up to his first Grimm.

* * *

**Jaune had just turned eleven. He bounded down the stair not even bothering to open his curtains.**

**At the foot of the stairs knelt his father, with his hands behind his back.**

**Jaune had remembered the words his father had said vividly.**

"**Jaune, I've got something **_**very **_**important to give you," Richard begun.**

**Jaune's eyes lit up.**

"**This," moving the sword and shield towards Jaune. "Is **_**Crocea Mors**_**,"**

**The young Jaune gasped and grabbed the hilt of the sword, reflecting light around the room.**

"**It's a family heirloom; your great-grandfather used it in the Great War!"**

**Jaune collected the shield grasping it in his other hand.**

"**Jaune, later you and I are going to kill your first Grimm of many I hope,"**

**Jaune remembered how he was so excited that he could barely eat his breakfast. So excited that at first, he put his hoody on backwards. **

**After meeting with his dad, they'd made their way in the forest and located a single **_**Beowolf**_**.**

**Jaune's excitement never faded, but he felt…nervous? 'What if I mess up?' he'd thought. 'What if I can't do it?'**

**His father, as if hearing Jaune's internal struggle had told him that everything was going to be fine.**

**Deep down, Jaune knew his dad was right. He'd trained for such a long time that a minor lever Grimm would be absolutely no problem.**

**And so he faced the Grimm head on.**

**Jaune charged at the Grimm, Crocea Mors in his hands, and it charged at him back.**

**There was no contest. **

**Jaune moved his shield up, using his adept control of his aura to strengthen him slightly and caught the Grimm straight in the face, a horrible 'crack' sounding as bone collided with solid steel.**

**Seeing that the **_**Beowolf**_** was off balance, he spun, rushed forwards and delivered a blow to its stomach, its eyes bearing confusion before it realised what had happened, and closing, as the Grimm's body went limp.**

**Jaune's father had been so proud of him that day, and one of Jaune's happier childhood moments.**

* * *

By now Jaune was just getting on the airship and had taken a couple of the motion-sickness pills Ozpin had given him the other day.

He made a mental note to thank Ozpin, as now he wouldn't make a fool of himself in front of his future class mates and perhaps enjoy the view instead of throwing up in a bin somewhere.

With a huge grunt the vehicle began to move upwards, Jaune using his semblance to keep him in place while the airship jerked slightly under the pressure of going upwards.

On the outside, Jaune looked the picture of calm, but on the inside…well, he really didn't want to be here.

As the flight began to even out Jaune began to relax, and went to look around and admire the view.

On his walk he noticed two faces he hadn't seen in a very long time: the sisters that had been in the restaurant and beside his bed when he woke up after 'that' happened. She younger of the two girls, who had black hair and silver eyes looked like she'd just drunk several bottles of cola, but looked fairly nervous as to being on the plane too.

Jaune walked over, offering one of the tablets Ozpin had given to him the other day.

"Hey, you uhh…look kinda ill, do you suffer from motion sickness too?" Jaune began in an attempt to improve someone else's flight.

Despite being a guarded person, Jaune was often more than happy to help other people.

"I've just drunk LOADS of cola, but what can the harm be? I am feeling kinda…queasy," the grim reaper wannabe finished, before swallowing one.

The effect was almost instantaneous.

'**Oh, the wonders of medicine,' **Jaune mused.

"Man, that's better! Wait…do I know you from somewhere, you look familiar..?" she began. "Oh, I'm Ruby by the way, and this is my big sister, Yang!" gesturing to the girl, no, _young woman_ beside her.

"Well, nice to meet you Ruby, I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc; short, sweet rolls off the tongue…"

'**Why did I say that again?' **Jaune mentally facepalmed.

"Oh! I know I've seen you befo-" Ruby started. "Ewewew! EW! YANG! YOU JUST DROOLED ON MY SHOULDER!" she jumped back frantically looking for somewhere to clean off her shoulder.

"Sis I'm sorry! I just got distracted! Comeback! OH, JUST SIT STILL FOR ONCE!" shouted an embarrassed and mildly irritated Yang Xiao Long before grinning awkwardly in the direction of the boy she'd seen in her dreams since she'd been younger.

'**Way to make a first impression, Yang' **she scolded herself. **'Bet he thinks I'm an idiot, but come on, those eyes, I just want to fall into them, and god, I **_**have **_**to run my fingers through his hair…and maybe slightly lower, come on, I bet he could carry an Ursa Major on his shoul-'**

"…hello? Yang..? Nice meeting you, but there's an announcement on the screen literally in two minutes, so uh, I'm going to head overrrrr…nice meeting you by the way, and maybe I could learn a bit about you next time?" Jaune spoke, turning away and walking towards the centre of the plane.

'**Whoops…'**

"Uh…see ya around!" Yang called after him.

'**Is that the best you could manage?' **Yang asked herself, tugging at the flowing locks of her hair. **'You're fine around the usual boys that try and hit on you, but the moment someone you could be actually interested in turns up, you turn into a shy, drooling mess' **Yang's conscience added in.

"Well, I've got work to do..." Yang muttered to herself, before going to find her sister.

Watching the news on a nearby hologram, Jaune noticed a criminal with a white coat and orange hair, who was allegedly one of the most dangerous criminals in all of vale.

Roman Torchwick.

The screen then moved on the show the girl he had met earlier on, Ruby, fighting several guy, who wore similar outfits to those that Jaune had encountered all those years ago.

Nonetheless, Jaune felt a stab of anger at the man on screen, cockily smiling into the police cameras.

Interrupted from his thoughts by an image of professor Goodwitch shifted into focus, and look sternly towards the students.

'**Does she ever smile?'**

"Students of Beacon," Goodwitch began. "I'd like to remind you that each and every one of you has worked hard to get a place at this hunting school. Nobody is here for merit or to make up numbers; you all met the standard to get here, but now it is up you to move on from this point, as if you pass the entrance test, it's going to get ten times harder than it has been already," she concluded, before being replaced by yet again more news.

* * *

Weiss Schnee's flight so far had been smooth. Nobody had bothered approaching her, which was both a good and bad thing in her opinion.

Yes, she really didn't want to mix with 'the wrong sort' as her mother had put it, but on the other hand, it would probably be a good idea to at least make some acquaintances if would she'd been told about the initiation test was anything to go by.

And hey, maybe she could get a good team, Pyrrah Nikos, winner of the Mistral tournament and the top graduate from _Sanctum_ wouldn't be such a bad person to have on her team. She would have to get there early of course, as everybody would probably try and form an early partnership with the Spartan.

The recording of professor Goodwitch was inspiring in Weiss opinion, and served to make her focused on entering this academy with flying colours, after she had passed the transcripts with ease.

But one thing at a time, the aircraft would be landing soon and she had the small task of lugging a cart of suitcases around without her servants help.

* * *

Upon leaving the airship Jaune was greeted by the amazing sight of Beacon, its towers reaching for the clouds and its garden sprawling around it like a cocoon.

Jaune was interrupted by several eager students pushing past him and across the bridge to get into the centre of Beacon faster.

What was the rush? Ozpin's speech wasn't for another three-quarters of an hour and the hall could only be a good five minute walk from where he was now.

BANG!

CRASH!

"OUUUCCHH!"

'**We've been here for five minutes and something's exploded already?' **Jaune wondered, making his way over to the source of the noise.

"…I said I was sorry," mumbled Ruby, looking at the ground.

"You know, we could have been blown off that cliff if the explosion had been any bigger. And why are you here anyway little girl? Shouldn't you be at home colouring in with mummy and daddy?"

"Look, I'll do _anything _to make it up to you," Ruby pleaded, but the apology fell on deaf ears.

'**Jaune to the rescue…as usual' **he thought annoyed at the bickering in front of him.

"Look, she said she was sorry," Jaune interrupted just as the girl in front of him was about to reply.

Recognising him, Ruby bounced on the balls of her feet, thanks written all over her face.

"And who might you be..?" the girl in white asked, turning to face Jaune.

She was absolutely beautiful, pure white skin that almost glowed and sparkling blue eyes. Unfortunately, she didn't appear to be the sort of person that smiled often.

"Um, I'm Jaune Arc, pleasure to meet you," he began, taking the girls hand and kissing it gently.

'**Jaune…that was even worse than your last greeting' **his conscience scolded him.

To Jaune's surprise, she didn't stab him with the rapier strapped to the side of her waist…yup, he should have noticed that sooner.

"Weiss Schnee, the feeling's mutual," she replied withdrawing her hand and turning a deep shade of red.

'**She's probably just not used to being greeted like that' **Jaune decided.

"Schnee? Where do I recognise that na-"

"Heey, I thought your name was princess!" Ruby practically squeaked, cutting Jaune off.

"What sort of name would that be, I'd never live it down," Weiss responded. "And I'm the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, biggest supplier of dust in Vytal!"

"And the most modest…" Jaune remarked in a joking matter.

'**Smile please..?'**

Another surprise.

Weiss threw her head back and laughed, flashing a winning smile in the process.

"Look, I know I need to work on my people skills, but don't rub it in!" she said, sending a mock glare in the direction of Jaune.

"Well, I'm not exactly a social butterfly either, so we'll just have to get by, right?" Jaune replied earning another smile from Weiss.

"We should make our way to the hall now, Ozpin's speech is soon," Weiss commented before they made their way towards the centre of Beacon.

* * *

"First and foremost, I'd like to welcome you to my school," Ozpin began his speech, receiving a small cheer from some of the students to be.

"And I'd like to congratulate you all on getting this far, however, as most of you know, some of us will not be participating in schooling depending on your results in the oncoming practical test. Do not fear, as in oncoming terms, there will be opportunities to fully enrol!"

More cheers.

"Finally, I'd like to say that all of you fine young men and ladies should go out tomorrow and give it your all. Even if you don't consider yourself a great hunter, remember that you're in the best academy in Vytal for a reason, as we don't accept those who don't show potential. Just know, that each and every one of you are capable of passing, but those who show courage, physical prowess and wit will make it in, and with that, I think you all best get to know each other as it'll make your stay more enjoyable and get an early night; you're going to need your energy tomorrow," and with that, Ozpin stepped off the stage leaving everybody walking towards the exits to get their things.

"So uhh…any ideas about what the test is, Jaune?"

He looked down to see Ruby tugging on his sleeve to try and get his attention.

"I don't know, but Beacons in the middle of the Emerald Forest, so it would make sense if whatever we're going to do, it's going to take place there,"

"Um, right, thanks Jaune!" Ruby chirped, before going to look for her sister.

'**Well, better unpack'**

* * *

It was early evening now. The windows were pure black, with tiny specks of light from where the numerous lampposts stood in the grounds. There was all but no wind blowing outside, and judging by the silence, it was a clear night.

What was happening outside was the least of Jaune's concern. In has haste packing, Jaune had left himself with a rather revealing set of night-wear consisting of a tank top that was two sizes too small and some shorts that were close to being skin tight.

'**Brilliant. Now I'm going to get laughed at' **thought Jaune as he exited the changing rooms that had been assigned for the boys.

'It's going to be like one big slumber party!' he had heard Ruby say earlier.

As far as he was concerned, Jaune wanted nothing to do with this 'slumber party'. He just wanted get to sleep earlier and avoid the teases of his future class mates about his poorly fitting sleep-wear.

Opening the door and walking towards where he had set up a sleeping bag near those he had met earlier, Jaune hoped to avoid anyone noticing him.

Fat chance, Jaune was never, ever, that lucky.

"Hey hot-stuff, what do you think you're doing sneaking away from me like that, I was saving you a place next to me!" A voice from behind Jaune spoke.

Apparently he wasn't the only person with revealing sleep-wear.

"Oh, so now you decide to actually talk to me, did you clean your sister's shoulder in the end, or did her explosion take care of that?" Jaune grinned mischievously, enjoying the company.

"Hey, that wasn't my fault…I was urm, hydrating Ruby's cape..?" Yang replied, although it was more of a question than an answer.

"Yeah, right, and I'm professor Goodwitch," Jaune remarked, raising an eye brow.

"I don't know, you both have a similar colour of hair…"

"Yeah, well, you have the same colour hair as me!"

"I know! We have so much in common, right?"

"Yeah, whatever you say Yang," Jaune replied.

"LOOK I WAS DROOLING OKAY! Let me at least know a little about you!" Yang said a little too loudly.

'**Open up..? A guess a little won't hurt'**

"Hey, Yang?" Jaune moved closer before enveloping her in a hug, so that her head was just above the crook of his neck. "Shut up,"

She froze and took in the scent of pine needles and white chocolate.

"I could get used to this," she mumbled, before Jaune let go.

Yang looked disappointedly at Jaune.

"Hey, if you want me to sleep near you guys, I'm going to need my stuff," Jaune said, grinning.

"We could've shared," Yang muttered quietly to herself, before she noticed Jaune coming back over.

"Lights off in ten minutes!" came a call from a speaker on the ceiling.

Jaune set out his sleeping bag next to what he assumed was Yang's and pulled himself in, laying some of his stuff just to the corner of the room, just next to him.

He didn't notice Yang, unzipping her sleeping back so that it formed more a duvet and positioning it overlapping Jaune's.

"Lights out, now," came the final call from the speakers as the room went dark.

Jaune rolled over to get more comfortable to be greeted by light breathing on his face.

"Come on," Yang whispered. "Admit you're actually enjoying this,"

"Whatever gets you to sleep at night Yang," Jaune whispered back and turning away, causing Yang to wrap her arms around his body and pull herself closer.

"You're getting me to sleep at night,"

Fine.

* * *

**So how was that? Enjoy it? Let me know! It'd be awesome to have to more good feedback to cheer me up after school for all this week :D**

**Explaining the OOC moment, Yang kinda got 'caught in the headlights' as they say. And whilst I think we all want Jaune have more depth, he's the sort of guy that doesn't mind making friends despite his views and grins and bares it when Yang starts being Yang.**

**I was slower writing, editing and posting this chapter thanks to loads of English revision, as I've literally just finished the two days of exams for it, so I wasn't really in the mood for writing, but hopefully, chapters should get longer and/or more frequent.**

**Also, I'd like to say a big thank you to all those who reviewed, it feels great to have positive feedback. Also, I'm aware that I make mistakes, but I'm seriously blind to them :s**

**-SimplySutton signing off.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Normal Speech"  
**'Thought'**

* * *

The hazy, golden sun rose from the mountains in the east, with rays of light soaking the environment with warmth and light, and leaving long, thin shadows trailing behind, edges blurred and distorted by the intensity of the light.

Calls of Beowolves could be heard in the distance, a reminder of why everybody was here, a reminder of a hunter's duty to the people of Vytal and lastly, a reminder that no matter how safe you think you are, danger always lurks over the horizon.

In the outer area of Emerald Forest lay Beacon, its tall spires and grand architecture rising out of the trees and reaching for the sky. Cloud clung to the higher towers like cobwebs and the sound of bells ringing could be heard, signalling for those of the realm of sleep to awaken; to creep back into reality.

A chorus of groans, moans and random noises could be heard from the hall, as the sleepy Beacon hopefuls arose from their sea of sleeping bags to meet the task ahead of them.

Jaune Arc himself however, had been awake for almost an hour and a half, preparing for the tasks that would lie near ahead and in the distant future.

Although he was perfectly happy with the company he'd had the evening before, but there was something about being alone and lost in ones thoughts that had always appealed to Jaune, whether he be absentmindedly tearing through his umpteenth training dummy, or simply walking in the crisp morning air.

All the worries, all the insecurities and all the pain were pushed to the side. After all, with nobody to look out for and nobody to get attached to at the moment, Jaune felt liberated compared to his experiences at home, always looking after his mum or sister and when he wasn't doing that, trying desperately to be all his father looked for in the heir of the great Arc name.

But here, Jaune would be doing things on his terms, all of the worries were miles away.

Jaune would enjoy focusing on Jaune.

Not that Jaune didn't like people, he was more than happy to meet new people, but there was nothing quite like peace and quiet in Jaune's humble opinion.

He knew it wouldn't last though; he'd heard years ago that students at Beacon were traditionally paired up and later put into teams, giving Jaune a responsibility and a duty.

'**Never mind, good things never last,' **Jaune recounted from previous experience.

And so Jaune was going to enjoy every moment of his solitude.

The ringing of the bell was enough to distract Jaune from his musings, signalling that the other students must be up and that breakfast was ready in the cantina.

Making his way slowly but deliberately towards his destination, Jaune couldn't help but notice the beauty of the landscape around him; the Emerald Forest almost looked inviting.

_Almost._

Finally inside, Jaune was instantly hit by the wall of noise his future class and/or teammates were producing.

'**Better tackle a bull by the horns,' **Jaune mused to himself, before walking further towards the chatter.

* * *

Upon entering the cantina, Jaune could clearly make out the different friend circles that the hopefuls had shrunk into; Ruby and Yang sat making polite conversation with a green-clad black haired boy and a girl with a pixie-like face, and orange hair who couldn't seem to sit down, bouncing on the balls of her feet, despite how early it was.

Ruby recognised him instantly tugging on her sister's arm to get her attention and waving for him to come over.

Jaune obliged.

Before he could address anyone though, he was interrupted by the girl who was currently stood opposite him.

"Morning!" she chirped, almost sang. "I'm Nora and this here-" she gestured towards the boy next to her. "-Is my awesome, quiet best friend: Ren!"

Ren gave an apologetic look towards Jaune, who was currently in a dazed state at Nora's enthusiasm for well, just about everything.

"Uh…I'm Jaune…urrrrrr nice…to…meet you Nora," Jaune answered, offering his hand to Nora who took it and shook it rigorously, making Jaune feel dizzy all of sudden.

Ren shot Jaune a sympathetic look this time, as if he had anticipated this would happen and that it has happened to him before now.

"Jauneyyyyy, you were gone when I woke up," whined a well-rested Yang, causing him to redden slightly.

"Yeah, well not everybody can get their fair share of beauty sleep Yang," he countered aware of the look on Ruby's fac-

"YANG YOU SLEPT WITH JAUNE?!" Ruby yelled a little too loudly, causing sniggers to erupt from nearby tables.

"Look Ruby, we didn't do anything if that's what you're wondering-"

"Yeah, but you usually get pretty intimate with your pillow at night, so maybe you didn't even reali-"

"-Ruby I'm serious!" cut in Yang, whose eyes were slowly shifting through the darker pinks and beginning to show hints of red. "We just slept okay, besides I've never _really_ been interested in that sort of thing…well until Jauney showed up," she finished sending a wink in Jaune's direction.

'**Please don't let me be in the same room as her, whatever's up there..?' **Jaune silently prayed.

"But Yaaaaang, why would you need friends when you have meeeeee?" Ruby asked Yang with puppy-dog eyes.

"Look Ruby, you drink plenty of milk and you'll be fine, I can take care of myself y'know," she reasoned, trying to put a little distance between herself and Ruby.

The sibling were so consumed in their argument they didn't realise that everybody had left the table to find more peace and quiet.

Nora hadn't minded the noise, but she had followed Ren as usual, who had gone to find something else to eat. Jaune on the other hand decided to have breakfast on the move and get all of his equipment ready for the initiation.

* * *

The locker room was sprawling maze to Jaune; it seemed as if the teachers had designed it to get students lost on purpose. Luckily Jaune had the presence of mind to attach small trackers to his weapons, to avoid losing them and looking like an idiot.

Walking along and looking at the screen of his portable tracker, Jaune failed to notice the two people talking fairly near his locker, clashing shoulders with one of them, starling both him and the person he'd bumped into.

Looking around he noticed the person he'd met yesterday glaring at him with high intensity, but expression softening when she realised who it was.

'**Phew…I've seen what it's like to be on the wrong side of her,' **Jaune thought worriedly.

"Oh! Hi Weiss, I'm really sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Jaune decided that an apology would ease the situation a little.

"Look where you're going next time Arc," Weiss replied a little more harshly than she had intended, not completely registering who she was talking to.

"Umm…I apologised didn't I?" Jaune backtracked. "And what's your name?" he asked towards the red-headed girl standing next to Weiss.

Before Weiss could reply, she was cut off by the red-haired girl.

"Hey! I'm Pyrrha, though you might have heard of me already," she chirped, though Jaune was perplexed.

"Heard of you from somewhere...? I don't know, you do look kind of familiar…" Jaune searched through his memories for some recognition.

"Heard of you from somewhere?! You don't recognise the Mistral tournament winner and top Sanctum graduate?" Weiss cut in.

"Well done Pyrrha! But I'm sorry, I don't really watch TV very much…but I swear I have seen you somewhere," he continued.

"Oh for crying out loud, she's the face of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes!" Weiss finally lost patience with Jaune obliviousness.

"That's it!" Jaune cried, snapping his fingers. "That's where I've seen her, thanks Weiss!"

'**Now I see what's so fun about teasing people,' **he thought.

"Sadly they're not too good for you, but nonetheless, it's a pleasure to meet you Jaune," Pyrrha remarked.

"The pleasure's all mine," Jaune replied.

By this point Weiss was turning red, partially due to the fact she had realised that Jaune had been messing with her, which she oddly didn't mind too much and that she wasn't getting as much attention from either of the pair as she would have liked. The latter did not sit too well with the heiress.

"Well nice meeting you Pyrrha, but I've got to get ready for later, see you around!"

"Wa-what?" Weiss was so busy with her thoughts that she'd just realised that Jaune was making his way towards some other lockers.

'**Ergh, if you want to get to know him, you're going to have to try harder than that, Weiss,' **her subconscious criticized.

* * *

Roughly two hours later Jaune and some other Beacon hopefuls were being given a lecture by Professor Ozpin on the task that lay ahead, though Jaune wasn't really focused very much on his words, he already knew what lay in the reaches of the Emerald forest and what the task would entail.

Its deep green and browns contrasted with the sky, which had since clouded over, making the otherwise beautiful forest look somewhat brooding and foreboding.

"…each of your pairs will need obtain a relic and make your way to the designated area,"

"Wait, sir, did you say…pairs?" Jaune asked.

"Yes, is there a problem, Mr Arc?" Ozpin asked.

"No, I just thought we'd be put into teams after the selection,"

"Well, you might as well begin to get to know each other as well as possible if you're going to be in a team, am I right?"

"Yes sir,"

"Alright then, finally, your pairs will be decided when you make eye contact with a person for the first time," Ozpin finished.

Click. Click. Click.

WHOOSH!

The first launch pad sprang into action, sending a black-haired girl with amber eyes flying towards the forest, where he noticed she assumed a stance before falling below the tree line.

Other launches followed, but Jaune was busy preparing on his landing technique in mind.

'**Well, I guess that would be the easy way…' **he decided before his launch pad came to life, sending him rocketing through the air.

He relaxed, and the image of the moon appearing in his mind.

"Gotcha," he cried out loud, feeling the pull of _gravity _and lessening its tug on his body, slowing his fall and giving him more time to observe the sight around him.

Yang was firing shots behind her with her gauntlets to increase he airspeed, but she was undeniably falling.

'**Time to lend a helping hand,' **

He focused again, using his semblance to lessen the downwards pull on Yang for a few seconds, one shot bringing her back near to the altitude that Jaune was travelling at.

"Just hanging around?" Yang asked him, wearing black aviator shades.

"Yep, enjoying the view, and hey! I'm the reason you're up here," Jaune returned, strengthening the pull on Yang sending her towards the ground, forcing her to fire a shotgun shell towards the ground to break her fall.

"Meanie!" she yelled.

"I prefer naughty buuuuuuut niiiiiiiiiice!" Jaune yelled back, the velocity distorting his words.

Focusing back on the forest floor he began to slowly lower himself, manipulating force to slow him, and cause him to fall slowly.

Seeing the moment, he stuck his arms in front of him and caught a branch of a tree, swinging full circle around it and grabbing onto a lower one, before repeating the process several times, performing a perfect backflip and landing in a crouch.

'**Nailed it,'**

Before he could gain his bearings, Jaune heard growls coming from his left.

He was greeted by the sight of a rather disgruntled Weiss Schnee surrounded by a pack of Beowolves, headed by an Alpha.

He didn't hesitate, quickly assessing the situation, noticing more Beowolves on the Alpha's side, rather than that which Weiss was facing.

He rushed forwards, drawing Crocea Mors as Beowolves would be easier to engage in close quarters combat.

He swung the sword in a downwards arc, cleaving the nearest Beowolf's head from its body before twisting under a swipe of a claw and driving upwards with Crocea Mors, as the blade passed straight through the flesh of the Grimm.

Resuming his battle stance, Jaune engaged in another Beowolf, channelling his aura to his shield arm and smashing it into the skull of the said Beowolf earning a stratifying snap as its neck snapped another the force of the blow.

He used his semblance to lower the gravity around him, causing him to jump at least twenty feet into the air, to a point that he was directly above the Beowolf Alpha, before putting gravity to three times its normal pressure on him causing him to plummet to the ground, as he flipped forward over and over again, with Crocea Mor's blade becoming more of a buzz-saw blade than a long sword.

The grinding of steel against bone reverberated around the clearing, as the sword split straight through the middle of the Grimm, leaving Jaune crouched in the middle of a pool of Grimm blood.

Jaune did however notice that Weiss still had some adversaries to clear off and jumped back into the fight, slicing straight through the claws of a Beowolf that were about to dig into the side of Weiss' torso.

Other than that however, Jaune wasn't really needed, instead standing relatively still and fending off any blows that would've got to the heiress had he not been there.

A few minutes later and the two faced each other, ocean blue eyes meeting those more the colour of ice.

"Well, I guess we're partners then," Jaune commented.

"I guess we are," Weiss replied. "We better get moving, the early bird catches the work as they say,"

"Uh Weiss?" Jaune asked.

"Yes?"

"You're walking in the wrong direction," Jaune deadpanned.

"Oh, I knew that, I was just ummmm…getting my bearings," the slightly flustered heiress countered before making her way off in the other direction.

As they got back under the tree cover, the growth got ever thicker, entangling Weiss' feet and causing her to trip, due to her inexperience with the outdoors.

What she hadn't expected to find beneath her though was a certain Jaune Arc, who'd swung himself around on some loose ivy to come to her aid, which was much appreciated, considering that white wasn't exactly the easiest colour to wash stains out of.

This however, had led the two to becoming face to face, ending up with two identical blushes and muttered apologies.

Their journey continued being peaceful, a comfortable silence existing between the two although Weiss did develop somewhat a habit of tripping over the foliage, being caught each and every time by Jaune, which she wasn't going to complain about.

'**Nononononono! I will NOT turn into a dribbling fan-girl, I am Weiss Schnee for crying out loud, I don't need such trivial things as that!' **she attempted to think rationally and accord with her upbringing.

Unfortunately, her conscience had other ideas.

'**But come on Weiss, he's gorgeous, and not a bad…okay a pretty great fighter aaaand he seems like a nice guy…not to mention the fact you've been fanaticising on and off about him for a while now,' **

'**Yeah, but I was young and I'm seventeen now!'**

'**Exactly, your grown up enough to do more than dream,' **her conscience replied.

'**Ergh. Fine,' **Weiss gave in, seeing it pointless to argue with herself.

"Urm, Weiss, was that a bird I just heard?"

Weiss was interrupted from her internal struggle by the voice of Jaune, looking towards the sky for the source of the noise.

"I don't see any-"

"WEISS LOOK OUT!" Jaune shouted in panic, as the form of _Nevermore_, emerged from the sun's rays.

It was too little too late though, as she was swept up into the Grimms talons, narrowly avoid being pierced.

She looked down, to see Jaune's form getting smaller and smaller as they ascended into the sky, where a Nevermore would remain until it reached its nest to fee upon its catch, which in this case, would be Weiss if something didn't happen quickly.

Distracted by the panic, she failed to notice the pure white dust bolts piercing into the side of the Nevermore, which despite not making much of difference served to grab its attention as it began to descend back to the source of the firing, which happened to be the top of a rather tall tree.

On close inspection though, Weiss could make out a glowing Beacon of light, blinding her temporarily before she focused to see the rough shape of Jaune hovering a few feet above the ground before leaping and landing somewhere on the top of the Nevermore, causing the monstrosity to let out a deafening roar.

Jaune kept hitting at the weak point where the Nevermore's head connected with its body with Crocea Mors, leaving black Grimm blood streaming backwards of the avian Grimm.

Sensing he had done enough damage, Jaune swung down the side of the bird, weakening Gravity to ease his fall, until he was clinging on the outside of Weiss' talon prison, before swinging his sword and severing the Grimms claws completely sending the pair plummeting towards the ground, but not before slowing the fall with his semblance and sending the Grimm plummeting towards the ground by increasing pull of gravity on it.

The stain on his body and aura reserves through the extended use of his semblance especially such a powerful one was beginning to take its toll on Jaune, as he began to drift in and out of consciousness, noticing Weiss' eyes still closed in the initial panic of falling.

* * *

Jaune awoke to find himself in a clearing overlooking a castle tower and a larger than life chess board.

Turning to his left he noticed a concerned looking heiress, who was holding a rook, and another pair, consisting of the Ruby and the girl with black hair and amber eyes.

"You could have told me that you were going to do something like that you know!" Weiss blurted out, looking drained. "I had to use a restoration glyph on you after you lost so much energy…though I've got to say, taking down a Nevermore pretty much all by yourself is an accomplishment in itself…not to mention that you…probably saved my life," she finished looking remotely flustered at complimenting someone, which wasn't a normal thing for the heiress.

"WOOOOOHOOOOOO!"

"Did you guys just hear that..?" asked Jaune.

"Yup," replied Ruby, popping the 'p'.

They were given an answer when an Ursa stormed through the tree line with panic in its eyes.

Jaune almost felt sorry for the Grimm.

Nora was perched on top of the said Grimm, discharging another dust-grenade into its back, before it took one last breath before collapsing towards the floor.

"Aw, it's broken…" Nora looked genuinely upset that her new plaything had moved on, even though it was a Grimm.

Shortly behind her appearing a panting Ren, who looked like he had run through half of the forest…which was probably the case.

"Well…that happened," remarked Weiss, looking somewhere between cross at Nora's antics and purely confused at how bizarre the situation before her was.

Unfortunately for everyone, Nora had seen the chessboard and the shining pieces that lay upon it, the queen specifically.

"I'm the queen of the castle, I'm the queen of the castle!" she sang, seemingly unfazed by her recent dealing with an Ursa.

"Nora, please shut up," called a disgruntled Ren, who was still catching his breath, though looked to have enough energy to quieten Nora down.

However, yet another Grimm rushed through the trees, a _Deathstalker_ to be precise, chasing after a scarlet-eyed Yang and Pyrrha, who was taking pot-shots at it over her shoulder.

To make matters worse, the Nevermore Jaune had dealt with earlier's partner had shown up; it was a well-known fact that they always worked in a pair.

All the Beacon hopefuls stood in shock as the two B/A class Grimm made their way closer.

Jaune came to his senses first, and decided to take control of the situation; he'd been told as a child that he possessed great talent as a strategist in battle and decided to apply that talent now.

"Right, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Yang: follow me. The rest of you need to find a way to deal with the Nevermore, I don't fancy taking down another," Jaune shouted, nervous to get his plans into action.

The others sprinted toward the direction of the Nevermore, whilst Jaune got and the girls faced the Deathstalker.

"Right, Yang, keep the thing distracted, be as loud as possible and see if you can do any damage up close and personal. Weiss, try and flank it, and look for a weakness: each Grimm has one. Finally, Pyrrha, I want you to find some tree cover and cover Yang whilst she's engaging the Grimm. It's unlikely you'll do much damage, but keep the claws away from her," Jaune explained, as each of the members ran around to stay out of the Deathstalker's clutches

"But what will you do? You're not just going to sit back because you've already killed a major Grimm," asked Weiss.

"Well I'll be around…I'm kinda cutting this short so we can get on with it," he concluded before running further towards the bridge, near where the others were engaging the Nevermore, lowering gravity and slamming into the wall of a spire and sprinting up it to get a better view of the Deathstalker.

Now Jaune could see all of the battlefield, assessing the points of the most strategic significance.

Decided, he jumped clean of the spire propelling himself forward as much as possible towards the Deathstalker, the weakened gravity easing his fall until he was more-or-less directly above the Grimm, strengthening gravity and plummeting towards its tailing and slicing straight through the ridges at the bottom of it, catching the beast by surprise.

"Guys, lead it towards the bridge. Pyrrha, switch weapons now," Jaune called, Yang beginning to go towards the bridge and Weiss putting layer of ice on the ground causing it to slide faster towards the bridge.

Once on the bridge they began aiming their hits at the raw flesh that Jaune had revealed when he had removed its tail and it was powerless to stop them, as it wasn't thin enough to spin on the bridge.

"Go for its claws!" Jaune commanded.

The four then weaving in and out of the Grimm's frenzied swipes, landing hits at the thin ligament that kept them attached to its bulky arms.

Jaune looked to his left to see that Weiss had frozen a claw and both she and Pyrrha were slicing at it with rapier and spear alike, whilst Yang had pinned down the weakened claw and was doing her best to smash away its tough exoskeleton while he was busy slashing at the ever weakening ligaments.

After a few minutes of hard work, they had full disarmed the Grimm, leaving it stranded, losing blood and helpless, although it seemed to be consumed with rage still, as nearly all Grimm were.

"Go for the bridge," he yelled, as the others, minus those who were still in combat with the Nevermore, began smashing the bridge and its columns where possible, before Jaune called them of, congratulating them all on their work.

Jaune then stood forwards, raising a hard and concentrating particularly hard on the force in the air, and strengthening on the bridge.

Beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, as the prolonged stress of using his semblance and aura began to show, especially trying to crush such a large object.

Then, there was a snap, as the bridge columns and supports gave way under the pressure, taking the Deathstalker down with it and lucky catching the exhausted Nevermore on the way down, sending the two Grimm cascading down the canyon, under the huge weight of the stone of the bridge.

Slowly, the panting members of their group gathered in a clearing near the start where of the bridge used to be, each checking their injuries on how manageable they were for the journey back.

Everybody seemed near enough fine to get back to Beacon, but Yang had other had other ideas.

"Jauneyyyy, my ankle hurts…it think it could be sprained, so you're going to have to carry me back," she whined, batting her eyelids and attempting to mimic Ruby's award winning pout.

"Yeah right, you were boasting how you were completely fine a couple of minutes ago," Weiss interjected, well aware of what was going on.

"Well, the ground is pretty rough, so maybe I did it just now!" Yang replied, slowly making her way towards Jaune, exaggerating a limp to try and prove that she was really injured.

"Rough? I froze it completely smooth, otherwise that Deathstalker wouldn't have slid like it had," Weiss argued, beginning to feel an envious feeling inside, not that she was going to show it…but she wished that she had the guts to be as open as Yang.

Still, Weiss went against her instincts and began moving towards Jaune, trying to think of a legitimate reason to get a bit closer, though coming up with none, and staying a bit further away

Yang meanwhile was right up close to Jaune, leaning on his right arm, still wearing her best pouting face.

"Carry me…pleeeaaase?" she whined, looking Jaune dead in the eyes, lips quivering.

"Ergh, okay?" Jaune answered, unsure of why the girls were acting like this, before picking up Yang bridal-style, where she happily let out a sigh.

"You know, I could be hurt for AGES! You'd be happy to carry me, woul-" Yang continued her charm offensive, noticing the looks Weiss was giving her.

Surprisingly it was the black-haired girl who spoke up. "Look, give him a rest, he must have used a lot of energy today, so carrying you for time immemorial won't do him any favours,"

This statement was followed by nods of agreement, Weiss nodding furiously at the idea.

"Awwww, just this journey then?" Yang asked, still revelling in the proximity between Jaune and her.

"Look, its fine with me just get that ankle checked out the moment we get back okay?" Jaune said, keen to get a move on.

"Okay," Yang responded, pretending to look sorry, but it was easy to see through.

And with that they began the long trek back towards Beacon.

* * *

It is later we re-join our heroes, whilst they are in the hall, listening to a long lecture given by none other than Professor Ozpin on the bravery shown by the candidates during the initiation.

The hall had been decorated in celebration of the new students; spotlights glistened in the corners of the room, meaning nobody felt left out. Centre stage stood Professor Ozpin, who was illuminated, the light shining off his silver hair. Behind him stood the teachers, in a line all of whom would be teaching those who made it through.

"…and I would like to offer my commiserations to those who didn't pass the initiation, and I wish them a swift recovery. However on the bright side, I would be honoured to congratulate those who made it through; you all displayed qualities that would go far in the lives of Hunters and Huntresses,"

A round of applause followed briefly interrupting Ozpin's speech, causing him to pinch the bridge of his noise in minor irritation, and begin quietening the crowd of students down.

"As I was saying, those who have made it past the test have done an amazing job and surely you must congratulate them in your own time. Anyhow, I would like to announce the chosen teams for this year, these will be derived from your initial partner and another pair who worked well with during the initiation to maximise your efficiency,"

All eyes focused on two large screens, which currently displayed the faces of each of the people who had passed the test.

"**Ruby** Rose, **Lie** Ren, Blake **Belladonna** and Nora **Valkyrie**," their faces flashed upon the screens in a line. "You will be known as team LBVR standing for Liberty. You will be led by Ruby Rose,"

She four walked up to the stage, each shaking Professor Ozpin's hand before going to the back.

"Jaune **Arc**, **Weiss** Schnee, Yang Xiao **Long** and Pyrrha **Nikos**," again four faces appeared on the screens. "From this day, you will be known as team LWNA, or Luna. You will be led by Jaune Arc," Ozpin called out, as they made their way towards the stage.

They exchanged ecstatic looks, Yang and Weiss' gazes lingering on Jaune slightly longer than what would be considered normal.

'**I said DON'T let me be in the same room as Yang!' **Jaune mentally scolded an imaginary entity to no avail.

But nonetheless, he was happy with his team, but wasn't really surprised he had been nominated as leader. In the back of his mind, Ozpin's words still lingered causing Jaune to almost believe that perhaps that he wasn't the best choice for leader.

* * *

On the other side of Vale in an abandoned warehouse, a figure in a white trench coat and a black bowler hat stood, hunched over a table underneath a map.

He turned to notice a crate being wheeled towards him by a grunt wearing silver and black attire and a mask.

"Open it up then," the figure in white commanded, with irritation at being interrupted from his planning.

The grunt, caught off guard by the forcefulness of the tone, jumped a little before removing a crowbar from his utility pockets and proceeding to lever open the crate.

With a snap, the wooden lid buckled and sprung up satisfyingly.

Inside lay an assortment of various dust crystals, containing dozens of different essences.

Despite the vast amount of dust, the figure in white still looked displeased.

"We're going to be needing more dust…" he remarked, mindful of his big plans.

* * *

**Okay, finally uploaded that! *Wipes forehead***

**Anyway, I'm really sorry about my lack of updates, but I ended up being really busy over the last couple of weeks, so I ended up literally doing nothing in my free-time, generally procrastinating. Hopefully I will updating faster than I have been and the length and quality of my chapters will generally go up.**

**If I made any mistakes, I apologise, as seriously, even when I proof-read, I'm totally blind to them. Ummmm, also, I'd like to know what you though of the fight scenes. Do you guys like my interpretation of Jaune's semblance? Have I over-used it, or have I got the balance right? Furthermore, I'll spend more time going over the other guy's fights (I've got something special planned next chapter), but as you've probably guessed, this is centred around Jaune.**

**I'm rambling on now, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and drop a review if you have anything to say, it's generally what keeps my motivation levels up as an author and I'm sure loads of other people would agree. Special mention to A yellow snowball, as they've fed me with ideas for later chapters (all of which are awesome) so I'd like to make sure they get recognition!**

**SimplySutton out-**


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